In 2021 Humans Will Travel Further From Earth Than Ever Before

230,000 miles above the moon.

By Seth G. Macy

Soon astronauts will travel where no human has gone before, further into the solar system than any mission in history.

NASA's Orion spacecraft will begin ground testing, according to NASA, and once completed, the ship will move into "the proving grounds," an area of space around the moon where astronauts "can build and test systems" in preparation for a future mission to Mars.

Image Source: NASA

The Orion spacecraft will orbit Earth twice "while periodically firing its engines," building up speed to travel towards the moon and then "looping back to Earth."

The crew on board the spacecraft will "gather and evaluate data," as well as launch payloads designed to "complete their own unique missions."

If all goes as planned, the mission should take around 8 days to complete, but NASA said it may extend the mission up to 3 weeks "to complete additional flight test objectives."

NASA hopes to launch the first crewed mission "as early as August 2021," but if you can't wait that long, you could always practice the mission in Kerbal Space Program.

Seth Macy is IGN's weekend web producer and just wants to be your friend. Follow him on Twitter @sethmacy, or subscribe to Seth Macy's YouTube channel.

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